Prep Boys Hoops: Eastland repeats as sectional champs

HANOVER — Skylar Paulson knew the best way to attack Indian Creek center Garrison Govig wasn’t to go straight at him.

It was to drive past him off the dribble.

The Eastland forward scored 14 points and grabbed 12 rebounds Friday to help the Cougars capture a second straight sectional championship over the Timberwolves, 51-42.

“I knew if he was going to guard me,” Paulson said. “I was going to try and take him out of the paint so I could take him to the basket.

“In the first quarter, he guarded me and I had like three-straight layups and a jump shot. … My foot speed was just a little bit better than his.”

Eastland (26-4) jumped out to a 13-4 run in the first quarter, with Paulson going 5-for-5 from the field with 10 points.

“We knew Paulson was one of their better scorers,” Indian Creek coach Joe Piekarz said. “We tried to figure on, matchup-wise, who we’d put on him and figured we’d put Garrison on him and have good help-side rotation if he gets by him.

“Unfortunately, we were slow on our help-side rotations and killed us in the beginning.”

The Timberwolves (22-9) never truly recovered from that surge and trailed 32-17 at halftime. But Indian Creek came awfully close to making a complete comeback.

The Cougars allowed transition buckets for both layups and three-pointers, which helped Indian Creek go on a 16-4 run in the third quarter. Eastland’s lead dissipated to just 36-33 going into the fourth.

“In transition, if we’d lose someone, they’d hit a three,” Cougars guard Dalton Shaner said. “We’d worry about the three and they’d hit a layup. If we worried about the layup, they’d hit a three again.

Shaner, who finished with a game-high 25 points, struggled in the third quarter scoring just two points.

“That’s probably best team defense we’ve played all year,” Shaner said. “ … Offensively for me, that’s the hardest I’ve ever had to work just getting a step.

“I was trying get some space just to not get a five-second call.”

Eastland’s offense eventually settled down in the fourth after Shaner hit a 3 to begin the final quarter. Indian Creek cut the Cougars’ lead down to five points with a 3:20 left in the game before a Blake Janssen jumper and Paulson layup put the game out of reach for the Timberwolves.

The Cougars didn’t allow a double-digit scorer for Indian Creek, with David Boehne scoring a team-high nine points off the bench. Govig was held to just seven points and six rebounds.

Eastland clinched its fourth sectional championship in boys basketball program history and repeated as sectional champions this season.

“Our first goal was to win regionals back to back because that’s never happened in Eastland history either,” Paulson said. “So to win regionals and sectionals back to back is huge and a great accomplishment.”